News » When baseball stars on expiring contracts get traded in July

NEW YORK (AP)Jonathan Lucroy Jersey , there’s usually no need to find long-term housing.Infielders Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas and Brian Dozier; starting pitchers Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Nathan Eovaldi; catcher Martin Maldonado; and closer Zach Britton are among the players dealt ahead of this week’s deadline for trades without waivers. All could be eligible for free agency after the World Series.Most will find new clubs, like Randy Johnson (Houston for Arizona after 1998), CC Sabathia (Milwaukee for the Yankees after 2008), Aroldis Chapman (Chicago Cubs for a Yankees return following 2016) and Yu Darvish (Los Angeles Dodgers for the Chicago Cubs last offseason).Few decide to stay, such as Yoenis Cespedes with the New York Mets after the 2015 seasonAdding to the intrigue is last offseason’s slow free-agent market, which saw veterans scramble during spring training to find cut-rate contracts as opening day approached.A look at some of the potential free agents and their situations:COLE HAMELSChicago is paying just $5 million to the 34-year-old left-hander, who struck out nine Wednesday night to win his Cubs debut 9-2 at Pittsburgh. If he is overwhelming the rest of the way, the Cubs likely would exercise his $19 million option for 2019. Otherwise, they would decline and get reimbursed by Texas for his $6 million buyout. If he is reasonably successful but not dominant, Wrigley Field could be his home for the next two years rather than him taking the risk of going on the market and getting squeezed.MANNY MACHADOHe is among the most-anticipated of the players in this offseason’s market Carlos Gonzalez Jersey , a free agent at age 26 who could command a deal of eight-to-10 years or more, perhaps with an opt out or two that could set him up for free agency again in his early 30s. Even if he leads the Los Angeles Dodgers to their first World Series title since 1988, he almost certainly would seek his market value. But if he does bring a trophy to La-La Land, there will be pressure on management to pay to keep him in Dodgers blue.MIKE MOUSTAKASA World Series champion and two-time All-Star with Kansas City, he expected a big-money, long-term contract as a free agent last winter. Instead, he re-signed with the Royals in March for an end-of-offseason closeout price: $5.5 million guaranteed and $2.2 million in performance bonuses he is on track to earn. He joined a Milwaukee team that has never won a World Series, losing to St. Louis in its only appearance in 1982. His home runs are down slightly this year and his RBIs up. He turns 30 next month. His deal’s $15 million mutual option seems designed not to be exercised. If he powers the Brewers to a deep October run, he’ll likely decline. If he doesn’t perform, the team will say no thanks.MARTIN MALDONADOHe is likely a short-term guest in Houston. Brian McCann had knee surgery last month and is due back in August, and the Astros obtained the Gold Glove winner from the Los Angeles Angels as an upgrade while he is out. Houston holds a $15 million option on McCann, who is valued by the team’s pitchers and in the clubhouse.J.A. HAPPA left-hander who turns 36 in October http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-dj-lemahieu-jersey , Happ could find happiness in Yankee Stadium. New York’s rotation is uncertain behind Luis Severino, with concerns about Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow, CC Sabathia’s knee and Sonny Gray’s fortitude. Jordan Montgomery won’t return from Tommy John surgery until late next season at the earliest, and while New York is expected to pursue a top free-agent starter such as Dallas Keuchel, or Clayton Kershaw if he opts out of his Dodgers’ deal, New York wants more rotation depth.ZACH BRITTONIt is hard to imagine Britton staying in the Bronx, where Aroldis Chapman is the closer and starting pitching is a more urgent need. But David Robertson is a free agent after the season and Dellin Betances is under control for only one more year. New York general manager Brian Cashman gave Andrew Miller a $36 million, four-year deal after the 2014 season when he already had Robertson to close and Betances to set up.— ATLANTA (AP) — The Baby Braves are all grown up.It’s almost time to celebrate.With another gutty performance that pushed Atlanta to the brink of its first NL East title since 2013, the Braves bounced back from Ronald Acuna Jr.’s defensive blunder with a five-run seventh inning that carried them past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 Friday night. Ozzie Albies sparked the comeback with a two-run homer and Johan Camargo finished it off with a two-out, two-run single, giving the youthful Braves a chance to celebrate as soon as Saturday afternoon with one more victory over the second-place Phillies.“Man, this might be doable Gerardo Parra Jersey ,'” manager Brian Snitker deadpanned.Acuna misjudged Wilson Ramos‘ liner to left in the top half of the seventh, turning what should have been an out into a two-run double. Pinch-hitter Jose Bautista tacked on a run-scoring single, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead.It didn’t last long.Tyler Flowers led off the bottom half with a single off Pat Neshek (3-2), and Albies followed with a drive into the right-field seats for his 23rd homer. Dansby Swanson walked and Lucas Duda followed with a pinch-hit single before Neshek finally got an out — on a grounder that bounced off the third-base bag and was backhanded by Asdrubal Cabrera, who threw home to get Swanson trying to score.That was only a brief respite for the Phillies. Luis Avilan surrendered a run-scoring double by Ender Inciarte into the right-field corner. With two outs and the bases loaded, Camargo came through on a 3-2 pitch by lining a single to left to put the Braves ahead for the first time all night .“There’s an ‘it’ factor with teams,” Snitker said. “You don’t know how they get it. But when they’ve got it, it’s really something special.”Acuna and Inciate celebrated at home plate, while Camargo pumped his fist emphatically at first, knowing he had pushed the Braves another step closer to the postseason. The Phillies dropped 7 1/2 games behind the Braves, while the Washington Nationals were eliminated from the division race.After their last NL East title, the Braves went through a massive rebuild that led to three straight 90-loss seasons. With some of baseball’s brightest young stars http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-todd-helton-jersey , including 21-year-old Albies and 20-year-old Acuna, they’re pushing for the playoffs far sooner than most people expected.Julio Teheran and Freddie Freeman are the only holdovers from Atlanta’s last playoff team.“We were talking about it the other day,” Teheran said. “It’s been a while since the last time we did this. We’re excited. We have a new team. I’m excited to see the guys do it for the first time. It’s going to be different for me. I was a rookie the last time we did it.”After giving up a leadoff homer to Cesar Hernandez, Teheran turned in one of his best outings of an inconsistent season. He didn’t allow another hit until pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford started the sixth with a triple off the right-field wall.Teheran escaped that jam by striking out Roman Quinn, getting Hernandez on a grounder to second and retiring Rhys Hoskins on a fly ball to right.But the Braves defense let Teheran down in the seventh. With one out, Justin Bour walked and Carlos Santana singled before Ramos sent a liner to left field for what should have been the second out. Acuna completely misjudged the ball, however, realizing too late that it was over his head.After a futile leap, the rookie had to go all the way to the wall to retrieve it, as both runners raced home to break a 1-all tie.Jonny Venters (4-0) claimed the win by getting the final two outs in the seventh. A.J. Minter earned his 15th save despite giving up a run in the ninth , striking out Quinn to end the game with a runner aboard.ROUGH OUTINGAfter a very effective season, Neshek had one of his worst outings.The side-arming right-hander was charged with four runs while recording just one out Nolan Arenado Jersey , bouncing his ERA from 1.16 to 2.66.Neshek claimed home-plate umpire Gerry Davis missed several pitches that should have been called strikes.“When you leave it in thee ump’s hands, that can happen,” Neshek said. “It just didn’t go my way.”TRAINER’S ROOMThe Braves will likely want former closer Arodys Vizcaino to pitch in back-to-back games before deciding whether he deserves a spot on a postseason roster.Vizcaino has allowed three hits and two runs in three innings since returning from the disabled list a week ago, but he had his most impressive performance with a scoreless inning against the Phillies in the series opener Thursday.The hard-throwing right-hander had 15 saves before he went on the DL with shoulder inflammation. He missed 55 games.UP NEXTThe Braves are skipping LH Sean Newcomb’s spot in the rotation, moving up RH Mike Foltynewicz (11-10, 2.90 ERA) to make Saturday’s start against Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (10-9, 3.77 ERA).Newcomb has a 7.44 ERA over his last seven starts, endangering his spot in the possible playoff rotation after he spent much of the season as one of Atlanta’s most effective pitchers. Newcomb will be available out of the bullpen for the remainder of the weekend but could still make another start in the final week of the regular season, according to Snitker.